Revisions to Regulations on Religious Affairs

On 7 September China’s State Council
released a set of revisions to the 2005 Regulations on Religious Affairs which
strengthen state control over religious activities in China.

According to the state media agency Xinhua News, the revised regulations “protect freedom of
religion belief”; however, the revisions also clearly focus on the “management
and supervision” of religious affairs for all religion and belief communities
in China.

The revised regulations will come into
effect on 2 February 2018 and include special provisions on national
security and foreign connections.

The revised Regulations on Religious
Affairs maintain and strengthen the state’s control over religious activities.
Although the 2005 regulations already placed religion under the supervision of
the state, in practice some religious communities, including a large number of
unregistered churches, have existed in a grey area where they have been
tolerated by the local authorities. Under Xi Jinping, this grey area appears to
be shrinking, and unregistered “house” churches are under increasing pressure
to either register or disband. Many unregistered churches have objected to
registration on the grounds that religious belief should not be controlled by
the state.

The focus on national security in the
revisions is consistent with official comments on religion and other recently
introduced legislation which treat religion as a potential tool of “foreign
infiltration” harmful to national security. This includes the National Security
Law, which in Article 27, opposes foreign interference in domestic religious
affairs, and ‘shuts down cult organisations in accordance with law’. On
7 July 2015 the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed
concern about the human rights implications of the National Security Law’s
“extraordinarily broad scope” and vague terminology.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide’s Chief
Executive Mervyn Thomas said: “These regulations continue the practice of
protecting only “normal” religious activities by state-approved groups. In
practice this means there is no space for religious communities that do not
wish to register with the government for reasons of conscience.”

“Under Xi Jinping we have seen an
increase in restrictions on both registered and unregistered Christian
communities: when Christians have opposed government actions, such as the removal
of crosses or the closure of churches, they have been harassed, beaten and
detained. This downward trend in religious freedom fits into a broader pattern
of increasing human rights abuses under President Xi. We call on the Chinese
government to revoke legislation which restricts the right to freedom of
religion or belief, and to cease violations against those peacefully exercising
their rights.”